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According to head coach Bradley Carnell, the Philadelphia Union took a day off Thursday, February 12^th, and began preparing for its regular season Friday the 13th. Given results Wednesday night February 11th in the Concacaf Champions Cup, they know that if they advance against Defence Force – the “c” is not a typo – they will face Liga MX giant Club America in that tournament’s next round.

Here is our best understanding of the Union’s roster availability as of Thursday.

We do not attempt to estimate the permutations and combinations of MLS’s salary cap. We expect an official Spring 2026 Roster Profile to be published a month or two after Roster Compliance Day (Friday, February 20^th), although logic might delay it until after the MLS primary transfer window has closed (March 26^th).

We believe Union efforts to sign a left back continue. Reports on social media provide detail sufficient to allow our claim, but do not justify publishing anything further.

We judge that roster thinness at attacking midfield will be addressed by “next man up” rather than a new addition, partly because Quinn Sullivan seems to be restoring himself well. We think Cavan Sullivan is being counted on for a significant first team role, as a primary reserve and a spot starter.

As a final preliminary point, we remember how long it took Jim Curtin to train his team to high press with the speed of instinct rather than thought. Bradley Carnell may face the same process with the four – hopefully soon to be five – newcomers among his starters and bench. The four, or five, will have the advantage of being surrounded by teammates who already play the system at the instinctive level, an advantage Curtin did not have when he taught the system for the first time. We must prepare for bumps in the road as the teaching, learning, and improving all occur. The typos that follow are deliberate to facilitate chart layout.

Five comments

First, an abundance of caution with attacking mid Indiana Vassilev, reserve center back Finn Sundstrom, and reserve striker Eddy Davis is only sensible given the nine-game schedule gauntlet that will comprise the Union’s first 32 days should they advance past Defence Force. After Defence Force, Club America awaits them in the Concacaf Champions Cup round of 16.

Carnell’s use of Ben Bender as a substitute at attacking mid in the second 45 minutes Tuesday confirms Vassilev’s injury and highlights the scarcity of attacking midfield depth. For all earlier parts of preseason Bender had been a left back.

Damiani’s green card absence meant Milan Iloski started Tuesday as a striker next to Alladoh. Testing that combination had merit as a stand-alone idea, and the Iloski brace was an interesting result, albeit against Montreal’s number twos. They played Iloski next to Alladoh ahead of playing brand-new striker Agustin Anello there. Long-term they may think of Iloski more as a striker than an attacking midfielder. The positioning of Anello and Iloski is a detail to track as the season unfolds.

Second, Rafael Uzcategui, who subbed for Japhet Sery Larsen in the 78^th Tuesday, is clearly fifth on the center back depth chart. For the second time this preseason he stepped up to cover a Finn Sundstrom absence. When the Venezuelan came on, the Union went with three center backs and threw an extra player forward trying to get a goal. The move backfired because Uzcategui’s lack of height meant he could not contest Prince Owusu’s head ball on Montreal’s fourth goal in the 85^th. But it does illustrate the degree to which the organization makes its teams fully interchangeable among all levels.

The Uzcategui substitution suggests that Japhet Sery Larsen was not yet ready to play a full 90. When he is, Sery Larsen would be the more logical choice to be on the field for the tactical shift. He still must adjust to the physicality of frontline MLS players like Owusu, but he has physical tools sufficient to do so.

Third, because of Vassilev’s injury, the club’s attacking midfield depth is thin. Alejandro Bedoya may well start against Defence Force on the island of Trinidad next week as winning any opener is usually a priority. That in turn raises the question of what will happen three days later in Washington, D. C. Agustin Anello was announced as a striker but he might play his first regular season Union minutes at attacking mid, although his pressing cues are unlikely to be instinctive yet. Or Cavan Sullivan might get his second career MLS regular season start. To avoid a premature relapse, Vassilev must not be rushed.

Fourth, we learned years ago from Bethlehem Steel FC’s Bolu Akinyode perhaps and James Chambers definitely that foreign nationals playing for lower-level professional soccer teams do not receive U. S. P1 visas. Right now, we think Gio Sequera is still legally on a Union II contract . Hence, like Akinyode may have been in 2016 and as Chambers definitely was in 2017, he is not able to re-enter the United States after an absence of more than a day or two without returning home first. Therefore how and when he will reunite with his teammates remains undeciphered.

That Major League Soccer must review and approve all contracts does not facilitate speedy resolution of these travel details for any team, not just Philadelphia.

Fifth, a photograph posted by the Union on one of its social media accounts earlier this week suggests that Markus Anderson may still be with the Union in Florida. The individual looks like Anderson and was wearing his number 35 on the official long-sleeved training shirt. We are guessing his loan to Brooklyn FC and former Union II head coach Marlon LeBlanc may have been temporarily delayed so he can provide depth at attacking midfield while Vassilev returns to full health. We have no confirmation whatsoever of our interpretation of that photograph’s meaning, only logic and imagination.

If we have guessed correctly, the circumstance illustrates that informal connections — guangxi in Mandarin Chinese — matter in North American soccer.